This was originally in my main blog, but got to transfer it over here.
Logos, pathos, and ethos.
A brief definition:
Logos – appeal to reason
Pathos – appeal to emotion
Ethos – persuasive appeal of one’s character
Whoa.
OK, anyway, we might not know it, but we understand the use of ethos and pathos ever since we were babies. Using this clip as an example:
Cute~!
The baby is, or was, feeling happy, judging by the toothless grin he beamed on the protagonist, Kuwano. He is trying to let Kuwano know that he is happy, and so the beaming of his grin (pathos). And obviously, this relay of conversation is successful, because Kuwano understands the simple message intended by the baby and tries to reciprocate the smile (the unintentional use of ethos from the baby is successful!). But something seriously went wrong during the feedback; the baby is scared to tears by Kuwano’s ‘smile’, or twitching sneer, to be exact.
This is thus a result of miscommunication: the intention of the encoder, Kuwano, is misinterpreted by the decoder, who is the baby. But this is not due to noise, but is definitely something to do with the encoding.
The use of logos is not reflected because, well, babies cannot understand reason and thus no use of it!
(Try convincing me that you obeyed your parents’ order to stop sucking your thumb. Or fingers. Or even toe.)
And from this clip, we can know Kuwano is a rather pragmatic person indeed; he predicts a possible reaction from the crowd of somehow blaming him, and tries to flee the scene of ‘crime’ before anyone can link him to the baby’s crying.
But of course in turn, we CAN too assume that he made the baby cry, due to countless observations we have made of culprits leaving a crime scene ASAP to try avoiding the responsibility. This would be the Idol of the Cave (individual prejudice) at work here.
So you see, the simplest act of smiling is communication. Everything little thing we do is a form of communication, just that we don’t see it (well, not literally anyway).
Credit: YouTube Clip from 結婚できない男 (Kekkon Dekinai Otoko)
(2 years old!! Oh my god!!)
Communication with a MavericK 
13 comments
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January 24, 2009 at 2:14 am
Brennagh
that’s interesting!
even when most of us thought that communication is really important in verbal aspects, there’s more than that to be discovered, with other non-verbal cues like body language since when we were little (:
nice post!
January 24, 2009 at 2:15 am
moonprincess87
It’s very interesting to find out and realise that even the simpliest action is a form of communication!
January 24, 2009 at 2:15 am
ning
it’s true that since young we are already practicing different kinds of communication skills, but it’s just that we are not aware of it.
well it is interesting to see how a child tries to express herself thru methods.
January 24, 2009 at 2:16 am
Les.
I was actually thinking of writing an essay for ESL on this… Non verbal cues.
What I think is that the first humans didn’t consciously know anything like pathos and ethos, but rather, it’s like an automated mechanism hotwired inside our system; humans just did it subconsciously. And well, like we have learnt about ‘transactional analysis’, we tend to repeat the action if it reaps payoffs. That is how humans learnt how to make use of pathos and ethos. What do you think?
January 24, 2009 at 3:40 am
Gem
That’s an interesting way of applying the communication model and ethos/pathos! The message has definitely been misunderstood by the baby 🙂
January 24, 2009 at 3:49 am
MavericK
Yeah, you’re right Les..
I should have rephrased ‘we understand’ to ‘we bear the ability’ instead. (this point is so ‘ESL’…haha)
Like you said, these abilities were hotwired inside us from the start; the terms ‘logos’, ‘pathos’, and ‘ethos’ were merely thought up to differentiate the different aspects of speech.
And on the topic of transactional analysis, not just us humans, but animals display such behavior as well. For example, circus elephants. They do the various acts despite not being in their nature to do so, as they know that rewards such as food and grooming awaits them if they are able to generate ‘noise’ (applause) through their acts.
But can we say that it is for the same reason that we see people who are unable to kick their bad habits as nuisances? Since they are unable to learn from the feedback they receive…
January 24, 2009 at 9:24 am
joy
this is such an interesting way of applying what we have learnt in lectures! i suppose even as babies they have their form of communication with people through their body language and non-verbal cues.
they sure have their ways of arousing our emotions in all sorts of ways! (:
January 27, 2009 at 8:49 am
farhan
Did you know that a smile is infectious? Coupled with eye contact, it can really brighten just about anyone’s day..
Once in the MRT i felt really down abt something and i was emo-ing non-stop.. (lol)
Then there was this little kid having fun swinging one the poles and grab-handles laughing away.. Something abt that kid’s innocent laughter and smile made me snap out of my emo state and juz enjoy watching him grin from ear to ear.. It reminded me of the times when i was a kid as well, not having a care in the world and life was so much simpler..
Guess what, i smiled…
February 2, 2009 at 10:16 am
xuannie
It is so interesting that a smile can actually affect how the man is feeling.
Communication really have no barriers.
Even with a different language, we can express our thoughts through our actions and emotions.
February 2, 2009 at 10:46 am
Olivia
Yeah, sometimes actions speak more than words. And such non verbal cues convey the messages in a powerful way as usually they can be very natural and spontaneous actions that really hits us. Haha, nice post and video!
(Oh yes, thanks for linking!)
February 12, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Shawn Tay
this is a really interesting video.
though it should be nothing compared to the man who posted this post who’s the man with no cock.
babies have a tendency of mimicking expressions and actions. it’s how they process information they receive and how they reiterate it.
some say babies are the most honest reflection of us. in a sense they don’t lie about themselves and they can tell lies from us (not always).
hence i would think that the baby understood his horrible attempt to force a smile to reciprocate the baby’s.
and marcus i hope you don’t base your whole comms blog on this jap drama. lol.
February 16, 2009 at 10:35 am
MavericK
@Farhan: If I did what you did…I’ll probably get mistaken for a pedophile or something. So that’s why I restrict my smiles solely to family, friends, and babies on the train.
@ Olivia: No problem there!
@Shawn: Yeah, I agree with your idea about babies. They’re fun to be with, to add on. Their cries may be irritating to some, but I’ve grown immune to it. 😀
And yeah, not to worry…haha, even I get tired of writing about the same things all the time. 😛
This coming from ‘the man with no cock’. LOL.
March 22, 2009 at 11:28 am
Kelvin
Sounds good to be part of the elite group allowed to be on the receiving end of your smiles =D hopefully termination doesn’t come to those who aren’t part of the group, and yet bear witness to the phenomena of Marcus’ smile =P These things aside, don’t you think it’s rather heart-warming to know that despite all the deceptive acts on-going in the world (ie funny Rwanda heir-apparents to the throne asking you to assist in the transfering of funds across the world =S) the opposite still exists babies really remind one of past innocence don’t they?